Hyundai has just announced that the Genesis, the name from its flagship saloon Hyundai Genesis, will be a global sub-brand that will take on the likes of Germany’s popular trio – Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
The Korean car manufacturer has undoubtedly had troubles establishing the RM400k Hyundai Genesis as a luxury car contender, especially in this region where Hyundai is more widely perceived to be a left-field choice in a Japanese-dominant market. Hyundai will officially launch the Genesis brand at the end of the year, with six new models slated for introduction before the year 2020.
As of yet, there’s no design sketches to reveal how Genesis cars will look like (except the renderings of the G90), but Hyundai says the cars will feature “the highest standards of performance, design and innovation.” All their cars will very likely be rear-wheel driven and will adopt an alphanumeric naming convention combining the letter G with numbers such as 70, 80, 90 and so on. Its Genesis emblem will also receive a mild tweak in design so it won’t look too much like Bentley’s.
So, what are the kind of cars you should expect from Genesis? If the company is serious about going head-to-head with the aforementioned trio, then we can expect saloons of various sizes, SUVs and hopefully a full-blown performance variant for each model. It’s safe to assume however, that these cars will be powered by Hyundai’s own powertrains and drivetrains.
Oh, did we also mention that a Prestige Design Division was created with the sole aim of developing distinctive exteriors and interiors for Genesis? This division is led by Luc Donckerwolke, former VW-Group designer. Something to look forward to besides Christmas now, no?
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